CIC and Biorepack present the Biorecycling Observatory

5 November 2024 – Provide Italy with a strategic tool to spread good practices for the collection and recycling of organic waste and packaging made from biodegradable and compostable bioplastic. This is the objective of the Biorecycling Observatory, the body set up jointly by the Italian Composting and Biogas Association (CIC) and the Biorepack Consortium, and presented today at Ecomondo, Italy’s leading trade fair for the green and circular economy sector.

The urgent need for a body to promote the transition to the circular economy in the area of organic waste collection lies in the numbers. Separate collection of food waste and compostable packaging has been mandatory in Italy for over two years, and in the rest of Europe since last January.

However, the organic waste sent to treatment plants still contains large quantities of non-compostable materials (NCM), which can significantly compromise the entire organic waste management system’s efficiency and sustainability. Most of this contamination is traditional plastic, glass and metals. Recent analysis conducted by the CIC Research Centre shows that the average percentage of NCM arriving in processing plants is 7.1% of the total waste they receive, above the mandatory upper limit of 5% specified by the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security in their Minimum Environmental Criteria. All the more alarming is that this figure means that the average national wastage of material during treatment is 21.9%, which significantly reduces both the quantity of compost produced at the end of the process, and the effective recycling percentage, which is the primary target for municipalities and processors.

The two consortia behind the Biorecycling Observatory intend to create a reference point capable of providing clear, useful and effective information to help improve the quality and quantity of separate food waste collection, and also to ensure that bags, plates, cups and other items made from compostable bioplastic are disposed of correctly together with organic food waste. These items do not in any way compromise recyclability of the organic waste, they are in fact specifically designed to make the separate collection process easier. In addition, they currently represent just over 1% by dry weight out of more than 8 million tonnes of organic waste managed in Italy each year.

“The Observatory has been set up to provide information about events, regulations, scientific learnings, and news from the sector,” explained Lella Miccolis, president of CIC, “raising awareness and spreading new perspectives that will further promote the circular economy and a green transition. In line with the European Union goals, the Observatory will provide explanations and answer the questions of users, thereby helping to improve organic waste management.”

To reach the target of reducing non-compostable materials to under 5%, one of the priorities is to raise awareness. “Information and educational activities will yield huge benefits from an environmental, economic and social perspective. They will facilitate the production of quality compost and avoid waste matter being produced during organic processing that has to be incinerated or sent to landfill,” explained Marco Versari, president of Biorepack. “For this reason, some time ago our consortium devised a multi-channel communication campaign to help ensure that citizens understand how to correctly dispose of compostable bioplastic items and are familiar with organic waste disposal in general, which represents between 30% and 40% of all waste separated in Italian homes.”

Who is CIC?

The Consorzio Italiano Compostatori (Italian Composting and Biogas Association) is a non-profit organisation that promotes and enhances the recycling of organic waste and derivative products (compost, biomethane, etc.)

With some 150 members, the consortium brings together and represents public and private producers or operators of composting and digestion plants, trade associations, technical offices, laboratories, research bodies, machinery and equipment manufacturers and other companies involved with composting and organic waste management.

CIC is committed to a range of initiatives aimed at promoting quality separate collection to enable the effective recovery of organic waste from biological treatment plants. To achieve this goal, and in order to constantly monitor the quality of organic waste sent to composting plants, or integrated digestion and composting plants, it has devised quality programmes and works in partnership with numerous national and international associations.

In 2003 CIC launched the voluntary CIC Quality Compost Mark programme, which constantly checks products in order to certify the quality of the organic fertilisers produced in the facilities of its member companies.

In 2006 it introduced the CIC Compostable Mark, a service that guarantees the compostability of biodegradable items during organic waste recovery in industrial scale composting facilities.

Today, as well as its activities relating to the quality of materials and products, CIC is permanently involved in initiatives aimed at achieving the targets established by the European Union in the recently-approved Circular Economy Package.

For more information see its website: www.compost.it

PRESS INFO:

for BIOREPACK CONSORTIUM

Barabino & Partners S.p.A.

Serena Galdo              |+39 345.14.64.356 | s.galdo@barabino.it 

Domenico Lofano       |+39 334.14.12.995 | d.lofano@barabino.it

for ITALIAN COMPOSTING AND BIOGAS ASSOCIATION

Press Play – Comunicazione e pubbliche relazioni - www.agenziapressplay.it

Matteo Nardi | +39 333 5687925 | matteo@agenziapressplay.it

Irene Romani | +39 329 5487842 | irene.romani@agenziapressplay.it

Martina Moretti | +39 391 1724975 | martina.moretti@agenziapressplay.it